Today, we talk about difference between Baseball and Cricket Balls. Baseball and cricket are the best-known members of a family of related bat-and-ball games. Cricket and baseball may be similar when it comes to hitting the ball with a bat; however, the nature of these two sports is incredibly different. Whether it is rules, equipment, or terminologies, both these sports are different from each other in almost all of the aspects in which they are played.
Difference Between Baseball and Cricket Balls
Similarly, there are some differences in the balls used in both the games. One main difference, however, is that the ball in cricket is harder and heavier in weight. The legal weight for the ball in baseball is from 5 to 5.25 ounces (142 to 149 g), whereas the ball in cricket must weigh between 5.5 and 5.8 ounces (156 and 164 g). A cricket ball is smaller (22.4 -22.9 cm circumference) than a baseball (22.9 – 23.5 cm circumference), which means cricketers are catching a smaller and more massive ball without using gloves—and they still make incredible diving catches.
Read Also: Tennis Rackets Used by Famous Male Players
A cricket ball is made of cork and string and covered with red leather while the core of the ball used to play baseball is cork, rubber, or a mixture of the two and is sometimes layered. These are the fundamental differences between the balls used to play baseball and cricket. However, there are several types of balls used in both the games and also various brands in the world that manufacture the balls used in both the games.
There are a few types of cricket balls, and they are classified based on the stitching pattern, color, and brands. Based on the stitching pattern, it has a two-piece cricket ball and a four-piece cricket ball. In two-piece cricket balls, leather is shaped as two semi-sphere. A high-quality inner core is placed into two leather semi-spheres. Skilled work does the stitching on two sides. Two-piece leather balls are used for the entry-level of cricket players.
The quality offered by two-piece leather balls is good, but if you compared it with four pieces, then there will be some difference in ball bounce. Whereas, in four-piece leather cricket balls, leather is cut into quarter sphere. The inner core is covered with four-piece of quarter sphere leather. Skilled workers do the sticking at four sides. Four-piece leather balls give high-quality ball performance. All the clubs, leagues, and international cricket matches used the four-piece leather cricket balls. Based on clour, it is classified into red, white, and pink color.
Read Also: Lightest & Heaviest bats used in International Cricket
Red color leather cricket balls are generally used in international test matches. Red color leather balls offer better shine and swing to fast bowlers. White cricket balls are used for limited over matches or one day international or day-night cricket matches. These balls are designed to give close to red color ball performance. The main challenge with white cricket balls is to maintain the ball’s color and shine for the entire game.
In white cricket balls, balls color is achieved with rubbing the leather for a significant time. This is called natural leather color white balls. Nowadays, Pink color balls are used in test matches as trial. The first pink color ball was used in the test match between Australia and New Zealand at the Adelaide Oval in November 2015. Kookaburra, Dukes, and SG are three different brands that manufacture cricket balls.
Test Matches played in Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, and Zimbabwe use the Kookaburra ball. While Test Matches played in England and the West Indies use the Duke cricket ball and the SG cricket ball is being used in India. The ball made by kookaburra is machine-stiched while the dukes ball is completely hand made.
Read Also: Top Cricket Bat Manufacturers in India
Baseballs come in several types designed for different types of play and price ranges. While the most expensive balls can offer superior performance, they are not necessarily appropriate for all kinds of the game or all ages. Professional-grade hardballs are more likely to cause injury than youth-league balls, for example.
Always use balls that are designed for the players’ age and experience level. Safety baseballs are designed for very young players from ages 4 to 8 in starter leagues such as tee-ball. They are noticeably soft on the surface compared to other types of balls and are lighter. Safety baseballs are inexpensive and usually built entirely of human-made materials. They are designed for small, lightweight aluminum bats.
Reduced Injury Factor baseballs are higher performance than safety baseballs, but have a poly core and are softer than a regular youth hardball, reducing the risk of injury. RIF baseballs are available for different age levels and are often used for practice. Youth league baseballs have a cushioned cork center and are wound less tightly than balls designed for adult play, but they’re not soft. Youth league balls are intended for experienced baseball players from 8 to 14 and are used in Little League tournament play. A youth tournament ball may have a leather cover and wool windings on the inside.
Read Also: Top 5 Lightest Cricket Bats
They are designed for youth-sized aluminum bats. Baseballs used at the high-school and college level are similar to professional-grade baseballs, but have a slightly lighter density and are designed for aluminum bats, not wood. They are usually made with a cork core, wool windings, and leather or high-quality synthetic cover.
Major and Minor League baseballs are the densest and highest-quality balls made. They have a high-grade leather cover and rolled seams that are neither flat nor raised. They are designed for wood bats. Official baseballs are a requirement in major, minor, and some other leagues. Players on all levels may use inexpensive balls made with lower-quality materials for practice. Though they are lower in performance, these balls can be cheaply replaced if lost or worn out.
There are three different brands of baseball balls, which are the Rawlings, Wilson, and Diamond. Diamond’s baseball has a cushioned cork center with a premium leather cover. At the same time, Wilson’s inside of the ball is grey wool. It has a cushioned cork that gives the ball more energy during the contact of the bat and the ball and Rawlings baseball is made with patented super stitch technology and full-grain leather, which increases its lifetime and durability.
So, here we talked about difference between Baseball and Cricket Balls. Don’t forget to pen down your comments.
#SportsCrunch: Comparison Between #Kookaburra & #Duke Cricket Balls https://t.co/Pny4vivd8r
— SportsCrunch (@SportsCrunch) June 22, 2020